Stopcock



Aug. 4, 1925. 1,548,526

A. A. HARTZELL STOPCOCK Filed Sept. 13. 1923 lll upl I MIH flyENTOR less.

warren sra'rss ARTHUR A. HARTZELL, OF SHIPPENSVELLE, PENNSYLVANIA.

STOPCOCK.

Application filed September 13, 1923. Serial No. 662,436.

To all "whom it may concern:

a citizen of the United States, residing at Shippensville, in the county of Clarion and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Stepcocks', of which the following is a specification.

The objects, construction and operation of my improved stopcock are herein set forth with sufficient clearness to enable others skilled in the respective arts to which its construction and use respectively relate, to

. make and use the same. I

In certain classes of service, as in oil pipe lines in the oil-fields and in refineries, much difliculty is experienced with the matter of leakage of stopcocks. If the plug is sulficiently loose in the body to turn as easily as it should it is liable to leak, especially under the high pressure to which it is commonly subjected in both oil lines and lines conveying natural gas from the wells, also when hot oil is being passed through it. Because of this, it is a common practice, after a stopcock has been closed, to drive the plug firmly to its seat in the body by means of a hammer or any other convenient tool and then tighten up the nut which secures the plug of the conmionly-employed stopcock within the body. Thereafter when the stop is to be opened, it is necessary to loosen said nut and by means of a hammer to free the plug from its firmly-seated position before it can be turned to open the stop. This is a source of much annoyance, inconvenience, delay and often considerable danger, in all classes of service, but especially so in gas lines in which a pressure of as high as eight hundred pounds is common; if the operator is not careful in manipulating and loosening the plug, it may be blown from the body, causing loss of life and property. There is danger, though not so great, in other classes of service, such as steam, hot oil, and com pressed air, though hot oil is the most troublesome of all common substances to handle, as it is most likely of all to leak from the stop-cock.

It is, therefore, the object of this invention to provide a simple and eliicient stopcock which overcomes or is free from the objections above set forth, and one in which the plug may be easily, quickly and safely loosened and tightened as required.

The construction whereby I am enabled. to secure said objects is clearly shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 shows my improved stopcock partly in side elevation and partly in section taken longitudinally and centrally of the body.

Fig. 2 is an elevation ofthe adjacent side of Fig. l. V

The construction shown in said drawings is substantially as follows:

The body 1, in general construction is much the same as that usually employed in stopcocks but differs therefrom in the respect that at the larger end thereof the periphery of said body is provided with a screw-thread 2 for a purpose to be presently set forth. Said body is supplied with the usual pipe-bosses 3 having the usual tapped ports a for the attachment of piping; said [body also has a tapered plug-chamber 5 for the reception of the tapered, rotative plug 6.

Said plug is provided upon the larger end with an aXially-alined screw-threaded member 7 adapted to the purpose of actuating saidplug longitudinally so as to loosen and tighten the same within its chamber; said plug is provided upon the other end with a square head or tang 8 for the purpose of actuating samerotatively as in opening and closing the stopcock.

A cap 9 is provided for the screw-threaded end of said body and is connected thereto by means of said screw-thread 2, said cap being provided with a downwardly-projecting annular flange 10 which is internally screwthreaded for cooperation with said thread 2. Said cap is also provided with a centrally-positioned opening which is internally threaded for the reception of and cooperation with said plug-member 7 and the screwthread thereon.

The thread 2 of said body, and the thread 7 of said plug-member have differing leads, and preferably opposite leads, in which case the thread 2 is a left-hand thread and the thread 7 is a right-hand thread.

The cap 9 is provided with a suitable head 11 for the application of a wrench to turn the same.

The plug 6 is provided with the usual fluid-passage 12 for alinement and registry with the ports l of the body 1 as when the stopcock is opened, and to be turned into non-registry with said ports, as when the stop is closed.

The operation of this stop-cock is as Vf0llows:

lVhen the plug 6 is to be turned to open the stopcock, a wrench is applied to the head 11 and the cap 9 is turned in the direction indicated by the, arrow in Fig. 2; this actuates said plug longitudinally withm its 1 chamber and loosens 1t tl1l8l11 sald plug is then turned to the open position whereupon said cap is turned in the directi01iopposite to that indicated by the arrow thus actuating the periphery of said plug into leak-tight contact with the chamber walls of the body. When the stopcock is tobe closed, said cap is again turned in the direction indicated by the arrow to loosen the plug,

the plug is then turned to its closed position whereu )on it IS agaln actuated toits leak-tight position by turning said cap in the direction reversely to that indicated; by the arrow. i

In some classes of service,where only a moderate pressure has to be contended with, it may not be necessary to actuate thecap, as the turning of the plug alone wilhto a certain extent, actuate the same longitudi-i prevent rupture at said weakest point, and also to prevent the plug from being blown from the body, should such rupture occur.

I claim the following:

A stop cock comprising in combination, a body having a tapered plug-chamber extend: ing through the same, laterally-extending fluid ports leading into said chamber, a cap secured to said body at the larger end of said chamber by means of co-operating screw-threads supplied to said cap and said body, said cap having'also a screw-threaded opening of opposite lead. to said first-mentioned, threads and arranged in concentric alinementwith saidvcha nber, saidcap being further supplied with a wrench-head adapt ed for turning said cap, and tapered plug revolubly carried in said chamber having fluid oassa 'es extendin itransversel there a t i b A U i through arranged to be turned into .andfvout of alinement and registry with said body ports, said. plug having at the larger end thereof an axially-alinedi screw-threaded member adapted for cooperationwith said screw-threaded opening in, saidvcap in such manner that said plug. may be actuated to and from leak-tight contact with the adjacent walls ofsaid; body by the turning of said cap, said plug beingalso supplied with a tang adapted to turn the same to open and closethe valve. a

In testimony whereof I afiir my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ARTHURA. HARTZELL.

Witnesses Flinn A. RAY,

JOHN L. MCB IDE, 

